PHOTOS: APEEL SCIENCES
Unlike produce such as peaches or
bananas, strawberries begin to decline
as soon as they’re picked. Scientists
have created an edible, invisible barrier
that can delay spoilage by slowing water
loss and oxidation.
Every fruit and vegetable breathes. Once
a piece of produce is picked from a tree
or plant, it continues to respire, aging
slowly, until it begins to break down.
Microorganisms then move in, causing
it to spoil. Refrigeration can delay the
process, but only so much.
Some scientists now think they can
make your bananas, avocados, and other
fresh produce last up to twice as long
by delaying spoilage. Apeel, a start-up
in Santa Barbara, California, has creat-
ed a way to extract lipids from several
popular crops and transform each type
into a powder. Dissolved in water and
applied to fruit or vegetables, it forms
an edible barrier to lock moisture in and
microorganisms out.
Farmers can apply a version of the
solution in the field, or distributors
can use the rinse on the packing line,
extending a fruit’s shelf life by days or
even weeks. The FDA recognizes the pro-
cess as safe, and earlier this year it was
approved for use on organic produce.
Giving shoppers more time with their
fresh food is one purpose. But Apeel’s
higher goal is to fight food waste and
reduce the number of refrigerated trucks
and ships that race between fields and
stores to deliver food at its peak. The
technology can also allow more crops to
be delivered to more places farther and
farther from where they’re grown. “You
can imagine a world without seasonality
of fresh produce,” says James Rogers,
Apeel’s CEO and a materials scientist.
In the meantime, who couldn’t use
a few extra days before that fruit in the
fridge starts to mold?
STRAWBERRIES
PRESERVED
By Daniel Stone
| EXPLORE | SUSTAINABILITY
DAY 7
DAY 7
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